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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Helen Pidd

Two-thirds of prisons officially overcrowded in England and Wales

Two Prison Service vans parked outside the front entrance of HMP Wandsworth
The front entrance of HMP Wandsworth, where in September there were 663 more men than the 950 it has ‘good, decent’ accommodation for. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Getty Images

Two-thirds of prisons in England and Wales are officially overcrowded, with HMP Wandsworth holding more extra prisoners than any other jail despite the alleged escape of a terror suspect last month.

In September there were 663 more men in Wandsworth than the 950 the south London prison has “good, decent” accommodation for, under the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) definition. That means prisoners sharing cells designed for one, often with a toilet in the middle shielded by a curtain.

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